Just thought I would share my research and buying decision for a new PC to handle Civ5.
Ive spent quite a few hours browsing the web compiling this info, so I thought Id post it here in case it might help out someone else looking to do the same. At least it can be a starting point for you.
Browsing the threads here about the pros and cons of Civ5 I realized that whether or not Civ5 is better or worse than any previous version of Civ theres no doubt I will want to play the game for hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours. The problem is I dont have a machine to play it on.
I tried playing the Civ5 demo on my work laptop, and it was a no-go.
My home PC is a 7-year old Dell Pentium-4, which even with memory upgraded to 2GB and a GPU upgrade is just barely able to handle Civ4 (it crashes sometimes on bigger maps).
So I told my wife OK, the time has finally come to replace my home system!.
She said So, youre finally going to finally over to Mac?!
Well, even if Civ5 did run on a Mac, Im sure Im still not cool enough to own a Mac. I just hope to acquire some coolness-by-association being married to a Mac-owner.
But I digress, what I wanted in a new system was:
1. be able to run Civ5 on a system that meets the Civ5 "Recommended" specs, so I would get good performance even on the biggest maps, with lots of AIs
2. be able to support DirectX11, not just for Civ5, but also for other new games coming out in the next few years (thinking DirectX11 might be the new standard for a few years)
3. hopefully get a system strong enough now that it will still be a good system in a few years, maybe it wont last seven years like my current system, but just maybe it will be good enough to run Civ6
4. and, heres the tough part: costs less than $1000.
Without the $1000 limitation, you dont really have to do much research, I think pretty much any $1500 desktop or $2000 laptop will do the trick. But under $1000 is trickier.
First thing was to get a better handle on what the "Recommended" specs actually meant.
The GPU specs on www.2kgames.com support site are kind of vague (ATI 4800 series or better, nVidia 9800 series or better). So I used the Passmark benchmarks at www.videocardbenchmark.net to see what the performance ratings were for the ATI 4800 series and the nVidia 9800 series, and came to the conclusion that any DirectX11 capable GPU with a G3D rating of 698 or higher would be good.
I think the processor spec of 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU is pretty simple if youre buying a new system (not an older, used system). I just assumed Id be looking for an Intel Core i7, or a higher end Core i5 (with 4 cores, not just two), or an AMD Phenom X4 or X6. I checked out the performance benchmarks on Passmark at http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html and saw that the topend Core i7 were rated highest but that the AMD Phenom II X4 and X6 were rated higher than some of the lower-end Core i7. I figured any of these CPUs would be fine for Civ5.
So with these clarifications in hand, I then checked out, just for laughs, whether a laptop was possible at the $1000 limit
. Which of course it isnt (though I also have a requirement for a bigger screen on a laptop). In case you're set on a laptop, I thought these two would be good choices:
- HP Envy 17.3 (Corei7-720QM, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850, CDN$1800 at www.bestbuy.ca )
- Alienware M17x (Corei5-520M, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, CDN $1899 at www.dell.ca )
Moving the search to desktops, I checked out a lot of options on www.bestbuy.ca, www.futureshop.ca, and www.dell.ca
The Alienware Aurora looks good, but at $1299 doesnt make the price limit.
Similarly, the HP Elite (Core i7-860, Radeon HD 5770) at Futureshop looks good but is $1199.
I found the options at FutureShop and BestBuy to be either:
- Meets the specs,but is too expensive, (and no way to downgrade an over-configured system)
- Meets the price limit, but doesnt meet the specs, (and is no way to upgrade an under-configured system)
Luckily I found some options at the Dell site:
- Dell Studio XPS 9100 (Core i7-930, Radeon HD5670, 4GB) looks good and is only $999! But then I need to add Microsoft Office Home and Student, which puts it over. Depends how you define the $1000 limit guess
- Dell Studio XPS 8100 (Core i5-650, Radeon HD5670, 4GB) also works and is just $899!! But again MS Office puts it over (not to mention taxes on top of that).
- Dell Studio XPS 7100 (AMD Phenom II X6 10055T, Radeon 5670, 4GB) works too, and is only $799!!! Hey, this one with MS Office included is only $918, plus the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T looks like a better processor than the Core i5-650. (CPU Mark of 5174 versus 3101)
- There were no lower end Dell (Inspiron) models that met the specs, and they were not upgradable to meet the specs.
The Dell XPS 7100 with all taxes included, and free shipping, comes to CDN$1018 - which is just slightly over $1000, but at this point I thought it was close enough and stopped my search. There may be other systems out there that meet the specs at lower prices (maybe Gateway, Acer, etc.), but Ive had good luck with Dells in the past, and I like how I can order it online, and the online support is good. So I decided to go for the Dell XPS 7100. Ive placed my order and Im just awaiting delivery now.
Now I just need to get a copy of Civ5!
Ive spent quite a few hours browsing the web compiling this info, so I thought Id post it here in case it might help out someone else looking to do the same. At least it can be a starting point for you.
Browsing the threads here about the pros and cons of Civ5 I realized that whether or not Civ5 is better or worse than any previous version of Civ theres no doubt I will want to play the game for hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours. The problem is I dont have a machine to play it on.
I tried playing the Civ5 demo on my work laptop, and it was a no-go.
My home PC is a 7-year old Dell Pentium-4, which even with memory upgraded to 2GB and a GPU upgrade is just barely able to handle Civ4 (it crashes sometimes on bigger maps).
So I told my wife OK, the time has finally come to replace my home system!.
She said So, youre finally going to finally over to Mac?!
Well, even if Civ5 did run on a Mac, Im sure Im still not cool enough to own a Mac. I just hope to acquire some coolness-by-association being married to a Mac-owner.But I digress, what I wanted in a new system was:
1. be able to run Civ5 on a system that meets the Civ5 "Recommended" specs, so I would get good performance even on the biggest maps, with lots of AIs
2. be able to support DirectX11, not just for Civ5, but also for other new games coming out in the next few years (thinking DirectX11 might be the new standard for a few years)
3. hopefully get a system strong enough now that it will still be a good system in a few years, maybe it wont last seven years like my current system, but just maybe it will be good enough to run Civ6
4. and, heres the tough part: costs less than $1000.
Without the $1000 limitation, you dont really have to do much research, I think pretty much any $1500 desktop or $2000 laptop will do the trick. But under $1000 is trickier.
First thing was to get a better handle on what the "Recommended" specs actually meant.
The GPU specs on www.2kgames.com support site are kind of vague (ATI 4800 series or better, nVidia 9800 series or better). So I used the Passmark benchmarks at www.videocardbenchmark.net to see what the performance ratings were for the ATI 4800 series and the nVidia 9800 series, and came to the conclusion that any DirectX11 capable GPU with a G3D rating of 698 or higher would be good.
I think the processor spec of 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU is pretty simple if youre buying a new system (not an older, used system). I just assumed Id be looking for an Intel Core i7, or a higher end Core i5 (with 4 cores, not just two), or an AMD Phenom X4 or X6. I checked out the performance benchmarks on Passmark at http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html and saw that the topend Core i7 were rated highest but that the AMD Phenom II X4 and X6 were rated higher than some of the lower-end Core i7. I figured any of these CPUs would be fine for Civ5.
So with these clarifications in hand, I then checked out, just for laughs, whether a laptop was possible at the $1000 limit
. Which of course it isnt (though I also have a requirement for a bigger screen on a laptop). In case you're set on a laptop, I thought these two would be good choices:- HP Envy 17.3 (Corei7-720QM, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850, CDN$1800 at www.bestbuy.ca )
- Alienware M17x (Corei5-520M, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, CDN $1899 at www.dell.ca )
Moving the search to desktops, I checked out a lot of options on www.bestbuy.ca, www.futureshop.ca, and www.dell.ca
The Alienware Aurora looks good, but at $1299 doesnt make the price limit.
Similarly, the HP Elite (Core i7-860, Radeon HD 5770) at Futureshop looks good but is $1199.
I found the options at FutureShop and BestBuy to be either:
- Meets the specs,but is too expensive, (and no way to downgrade an over-configured system)
- Meets the price limit, but doesnt meet the specs, (and is no way to upgrade an under-configured system)
Luckily I found some options at the Dell site:
- Dell Studio XPS 9100 (Core i7-930, Radeon HD5670, 4GB) looks good and is only $999! But then I need to add Microsoft Office Home and Student, which puts it over. Depends how you define the $1000 limit guess
- Dell Studio XPS 8100 (Core i5-650, Radeon HD5670, 4GB) also works and is just $899!! But again MS Office puts it over (not to mention taxes on top of that).
- Dell Studio XPS 7100 (AMD Phenom II X6 10055T, Radeon 5670, 4GB) works too, and is only $799!!! Hey, this one with MS Office included is only $918, plus the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T looks like a better processor than the Core i5-650. (CPU Mark of 5174 versus 3101)
- There were no lower end Dell (Inspiron) models that met the specs, and they were not upgradable to meet the specs.
The Dell XPS 7100 with all taxes included, and free shipping, comes to CDN$1018 - which is just slightly over $1000, but at this point I thought it was close enough and stopped my search. There may be other systems out there that meet the specs at lower prices (maybe Gateway, Acer, etc.), but Ive had good luck with Dells in the past, and I like how I can order it online, and the online support is good. So I decided to go for the Dell XPS 7100. Ive placed my order and Im just awaiting delivery now.
Now I just need to get a copy of Civ5!
